The readings  “Patriarchy, the System: An It, Not a He, a Them, or an Us” by Allan Johnson and “There Is No Hierarchy of Oppressions” by Audre Lorde were not only touching as she goes into depth about her different identities it is also exceptional and informative on the concepts of privilege and oppression but they help us think more about what it is like for those who are oppressed and live under their oppressors. 

Johnson’s article goes into depth about patriarchy as he breaks down what is included in patriarchy and how the system impacts our society as a whole. I feel as though Johnson focuses specifically on the notion of patriarchy while also describing ideologies like social systems that make patriarchy what it is today. Johnson also dissects how patriarchy is a system and not just based on one group of individuals or one person in particular. Patriarchy is a kind of society organized around certain kinds of social relationships and ideas. As individuals, we participate in it. Paradoxically, our participation both shapes our lives and gives us the opportunity to be part of changing or perpetuating it. Throughout the reading, Johnson helped me understand the concept of the patriarchal system by going into depth about socialization and how it influences the system of patriarchy and how it continues to work the way that it does. What I took away from this article is that patriarchy isn’t about one specific person or one specific group like males or females but it is a system that continues to operate because we continue to allow it to happen since we are in the system even though we didn’t create it we are a part of it. Even if every person in the world agreed that patriarchy is present today and has always been present in history does not mean that the system will change in a more inclusive and positive direction. It will take a great deal of time for people to analyze what concepts are involved in our patriarchy system and how we can make steps to change it moving forward. To understand what patriarchy is, people need to dig deeper into the world’s social system and the social problems society faces time and time again because nothing is being done to break these patterns of repetition and fix social problems for once and for all in our social system. To dive even deeper Johnson states, “we cannot understand the world and our lives in it without looking at the dynamic relationship between individual people and social systems. Nor can we understand the countless details.” I feel as though Johnson wants us to grasp the idea that social systems and the repetitive issues those systems face are a part of patriarchy; are in a way what makes up the patriarchal system. Johnson needs us to not only acknowledge that idea but to figure out steps to change it and move forward instead of just acknowledging it and moving on. In the reading, Johnson also describes the concept of resistance and how patriarchal culture makes us less resistant to situations. For example, you’re walking down a dark sidewalk and you’re passing by an alley but when you pass by the alley you see a young woman is getting mugged by an older man. Instead of sticking up for the young girl you do the opposite and continue on your walk down the street. You’re probably thinking why wouldn’t I help the young girl? Well, it’s because resistance has become a part of patriarchy and the patriarchal society. The path of least resistance in this situation is to continue on your walk, mind your business, and not cause any more trouble. To not get in the way of a man doing what he wants to a woman, to not being accused of helping and siding with a woman against a man which if you were a man in this instance, make you feel like less of a man unless you are willing to deal with the even greater resistance that would follow. In this instance, you will continue to take the least resistant path because you are so used to going along with things in a patriarchal system instead of fighting against it or in this example fighting for the young girl. 

Audre Lorde’s article “There Is No Hierarchy of Oppressions” focuses on intersectionality and what is is like from a standpoint of a black woman who also identifies as a lesbian, feminist, socialist, poet, mother of two, and a member of an interracial couple. I appreciated Lorde’s article because I not only learned about intersectionality on a more personal and detailed level but I learned that it is harder to associate yourself with one specific group when one is so much more intricate than that. The complex connection between the various dimensions of identity is described as the term intersectionality. These various dimensions of identity can be things such as; sexual orientation, gender identity, and racial identity. Lorde always speaks her own identities being a black woman, lesbian, feminist, socialist, and more. Due to Lorde having more than one identity she refuses to only identify with one even if it may benefit her at that point in time; Lorde states, “I know that my people cannot possibly profit from the oppression of any other group which seeks the right to peaceful existence. Rather, we diminish ourselves by denying to others what we have shed blood to obtain for our children. And those children need to learn that they do not have to become like each other in order to work together for a future they will all share.” I think this is a powerful statement because it represents Lorde’s ideology that no one should conform to one identity they associate with even if it benefits them in any way because those benefits won’t last forever. Rather than diminishing your identity by denying it to others to be accepted for the time being, one should appreciate the different parts of their identity and never conform to what society deems acceptable.